Nelson’s Speed Shop is once again open for business after rebuilding from a fire that destroyed the business in June of 2012. — Daily News/Cory Smith

MONTCALM TOWNSHIP — A longtime local Greenville business that continues to make comeback after comeback has officially opened its doors again after recovering from a devastating fire nearly one year ago.

There were no ribbons to cut, no flashing lights and little evidence of any kind that a grand-reopening was occurring at Nelson’s Speed Shop at 4566 N. Greenville Road, north of Greenville Saturday afternoon.

That is, unless you count the dozens of customers that flooded the new building just moments after the doors opened for the first time at 9 a.m.

Customers interact with employees at Nelson’s Speed Shop during the grand reopening of the business Saturday morning. — Daily News/Cory Smith

For owner Jack Nelson, it was a nostalgic feeling — business as usual.

“It’s a great feeling, all of the public has been very excited and has wanted us to rebuild, which has been a good feeling,” he said. “To finally be able to open the doors, have customers come in and have units in the showroom. It’s been a long overdue grind for all of us and the people showing up today makes it nice.”

On June 22, about 75 firefighters from 11 fire departments responded to Nelson’s Speed Shop just north of Greenville at 1:30 a.m. in response to a fire that had consumed the rear portion of the building.

By sunrise, the entire building was a complete loss.

The fire was not deemed suspicious in nature by Montcalm Township Fire Chief Cliff Dickinson, however, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) was called in to investigate the fire because of a Sept. 17, 2001, fire that was set around 1:40 a.m., destroying the previous Nelson’s Speed Shop at the same location.

“It’s still undetermined,” Nelson said of the cause of the fire. “I talked to the (ATF) agency one week ago and they are still working on it diligently. They still have some leads that they are checking out, but at this point in time they are still classifying it as an undetermined fire.”

Nelson said he is just appreciative of all of his customers and employees, who he considers family, who have been so supportive throughout the rebuilding process.

“We want to thank everyone that has supported us throughout this last year,” he said. “Over the years your customers become your friends and it’s really nice to see everyone welcome us back.”

According to Nelson, the new facility is significantly smaller than the previous building. Nelson said he wanted to create a warmer feeling for his customers when they enter his business.

“The most obvious thing is this is a smaller store, probably less than half of what it was before,” he said. “But the key thing that we wanted to bring back into this store was a cozier, warmer feeling. We wanted to bring in the northern-wood type feeling that you find here in Michigan.”

Nelson said wood from cedar trees was used to frame in the interior of the building and wooded sculptures were placed throughout the store to create the new atmosphere.

According to Nelson, the new store also features extra security and additional measures have been taken to avoid another fire.

“I can’t go into much detail, but we’ve upped the security more and there’s been preventative measures taken to avoid another fire in the future.”

Customers such as Larry and Linda Christensen of Sheridan, who purchased a John Deere lawnmower Saturday morning, were glad to see Nelson’s Speed Shop once again open for business.

“I’ve been buying John Deere lawnmowers here for years,” Larry Christensen said. “The new store is very nice. It’s great for the business, and the community, to be open again.”

“I really like the entrance to the store,” Linda Christensen said. “It’s a very nice new building.”

As for what lies ahead in the future for the business, Nelson said he’s hoping things just continue to go as normally as they can.

“We hope this new establishment continues for everybody,” he said “We’re bouncing back, we’ve got a few bumps yet and still have some things that need to be ironed out, but for the most part I think we’ll be back up to speed soon.”

The interior of the new Nelson’s Speed Shop showroom at 4566 N. Greenville road in Montcalm Township is smaller than the previous building, but features a warmer, “cozier” atmosphere. — Daily News/Cory Smith

Cory is the current Belding beat reporter for The Daily News, as well as the multimedia reporter, producing video and photo content for the paper's website. Cory is a hometown kid, having graduated from Greenville High School in 2004. He then went on to study Journalism at Michigan State University where he also played trumpet and marched as a member of the Spartan Marching Band for four years.

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Less than a month after a devastating fire, Nelson’s Speed Shop has opened for business. The Montcalm Township business is operating out of an office with an outside showroom and is trying to continue business as close to normal as possible. But the shop will not be outdoors for long, according to owner Jack Nelson, who said he plans to start layout plans next week and have a new shop rebuilt by winter.

The owners of Nelson’s Speed Shop have experienced another devastating fire that destroyed their business. At about 1:30 a.m. this morning, Montcalm Township Fire Department was dispatched to Nelson’s Speed Shop on M-91 in Montcalm Township for a structure fire.

Sno-Motion 2013, which will take place at Nelson’s Speed Shop, located at 456 N. Greenville Road (M-91), begins Friday and lasts through Saturday. Nelson’s Speed Shop suffered a destructive fire early the morning of June 22. About 75 firefighters from 11 fire departments responded to the blaze, which destroyed the business.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) is now investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed Nelson’s Speed Shop. About 75 firefighters from 11 fire departments responded to Nelson’s Speed Shop just north of Greenville at 1:30 a.m. Friday. They cleared the scene 10 to 12 hours later. Montcalm Township Fire Chief Clif Dickinson said he doesn’t know the cause of the fire at this time. He noted that fuel and oil was stored in the back of the business where the fire began.